SCALE App: Minister of Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan recently launched the SCALE (Skill Certification Assessment for Leather Employees) app.

• It was launched during his visit to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) on September 20, 2022.

Key Points:

• The application has been developed by the Leather Skill Sector Council (LSSC).
• This app provides a one-stop service for skilling, learning, assessment and job opportunities for the leather industry.
• It provides online live streaming classes from a studio at the LSSC’s office.
• Anyone with an interest in leather crafts can enroll in these classes.

About LSSC:

• The Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) is a non-profit organization set up in 2012.
• It was established to help the leather sector of India meet the demands for qualified workers.
• Its responsibility is to create skilled ecosystem in India’s leather industry through capacity building measures.
• Its goals include creating a skilled labour force for the leather and leather goods sector as well as ensuring the availability of qualified workers at all industrial segments and organizational levels.
• Currently, it is acknowledged as one of the significant industry skills councils by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

India’s leather sector:

• In India, the leather industry is predicted to add 2.39 million new jobs between 2017 and 2022.

This includes -

• 0.88 million full-time workers,
• 0.77 million employed in small businesses and
• 0.74 million self-employed or daily wage workers like cobblers.

• This sector has one of the youngest and most productive workforce comprising labourers  below the age of 55.
• India’s leather sector produces about 3 billion square feet of leather every year.
• About 13% of leather hides and skins are produced in the country.
• India is currently the world's second-largest footwear production and consumer.
• 9% of all footwear produced in the world is from India.